Links & resources
Legal Support in Victoria
Victorian community legal centres
Many of the 49 Victorian community legal centres can undertake representation or give advice to citizens in criminal matters.
They are also useful sources for referrals to sympathetic lawyers. Bear in mind that their resources are limited.
For a full list of community legal centres in Victoria go to: http://www.communitylaw.org.au/ o r contact the Federation of Community Legal Centres on (03) 9654 2204 or email: fedclc@vicnet.net.au
Victoria Legal Aid
There are a number of Melbourne suburban as well as regional Victorian Offices of Victoria Legal Aid, these can be contacted via the website http://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/ 179 Queen St Melbourne 3000 (03) 9607 0234
Aboriginal Legal Service
24 HOUR SERVICE Tel: (03) 9419 3888 or Toll Free: 1800 064 865
Head Office
6 Alexandra Parade
PO Box 218
Fitzroy 3065
Fax : (03) 9419 6024
Email: vals@vals.org.au http://www.vals.org.au
Women's Legal Centre
Level 3, 43 Hardware Lane
Melbourne 3000
Tel: (03) 9642 0877; 1800 133 302 (toll free)
(03) 9642 0334 (TTY)
Fax: (03) 9642 0232
Email: justice@vicnet.net.au
www.womenslegal.org.au
Public Interest Law Clearing House (Vic)
The Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH) is an independentnot for profit legal referral service. It seeks to meet the legal needs of community groups, not for profit organisations and individuals from disadvantaged or marginalised backgrounds. PILCH acts as a facilitator for the community to access pro bono legal assistancefromthe private legalprofession. Level 1, 550 Lonsdale Street Melbourne VIC 3000 Telephone:03 9225 6680 Facsimile: 03 9225 6686 Email: ed2.pilch@vicbar.com.au Internet: www.pilch.org.au
Lawyers For Forests
The best source of legal information and legal support for Forest Activists in Victoria is the organisation Lawyers For Forests, an association of legal professionals working to promote the conservation and better management of Australia's remaining native forests. Lawyers for Forests provide:
- information to conservationists on their rights and responsibilities when taking part in a protest; and
- free legal advice and representation where needed after the event.
PO Box 550
Collins Street West
Melbourne 8007
e-mail: lff@lawyersforforests.asn.au www.lawyersforforests.asn.au
Environment Defenders Office (EDO)
The Environment Defenders Office (Victoria) Limited (EDO) is a community legal service practising public interest planning and environmental law.
The EDO has a legal service providing planning and environmental law advice and assistance to people who wish to protect the environment and who cannot otherwise afford to pay for private lawyers. The EDO is part of a National Network of EDOs in each State and Territory.
Level 1/504 Victoria Street
(PO Box 416)
North Melbourne VIC 3051
(03) 9328 4811 Email: edovic@edo.org.au It is recommended you check out the Defend the Defenders kit which contains useful downloadable guides for responding to legal threats, media, bomb threats and handling claims of eco-terrorism'. Defend the Defenders Kit can be found at: http://www.edo.org.au/edovic/publications.html#Defend
Legal or civil rights organisations
Liberty Victoria
Liberty Victoria, also known as the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties Inc, is an independent non-government organisation. Liberty is committed to the defence and extension of human rights and civil liberties. It seeks to promote Australia's compliance with the major human rights instruments set out in international law.
Liberty conducts community education about the importance of civil liberties and human rights. Liberty's work involves liaison with government, police and regulatory authorities to prevent erosion of rights and freedoms or to enhance their protection. This includes making submissions, conducting law reform campaigns and meeting with members of parliament.
Liberty Victoria may be reached via their website at: http://www.libertyvictoria.org.au or
on (03) 9670 6422 or Email: info@libertyvictoria.org.au
The Civil Rights Network
The Civil Rights Network (CRN) is a network of concerned individuals who aim to bring the increasing erosion of civil liberties in the War on Terror' to the attention of the broader Australian public. Its membership draws upon a wide cross-section of society with trade unionists, lawyers, academics and members of faith organisations being part of the CRN. The CRN website is a useful resource at www.civilrightsnetwork.org Email: info@civilrightsnetwork.org
The Victorian Criminal Justice Coalition
P.O. Box 271 Richmond 3121
Telephone: 613 9427 7388, Fax: 613 9427 1819
Web address: http://www.jss.org.au
Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby
The VGLRL is a lobby group which aims to achieve equality and social justice for lesbians and gay men. We do this by working with the media, undertaking and supporting research and lobbying politicians directly.
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~vglrl/ P.O. Box 2156,
Fitzroy 3065,
Victoria, Australia vglr_lobby@hotmail.com Also go to: http://over-the-rainbow.org/ A guide to the law for lesbians and gay men in Victoria.
Electronic Frontiers Australia
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. (EFA) is a non-profit national organisation representing internet users concerned with online rights and freedoms. EFA was established in 1994, is independent of government and commerce, and is funded by membership subscriptions and donations from individuals and organisations with an altruistic interest in promoting online civil liberties . Email EFA at email@efa.org.au or phone 07 3424 020.
Free Speech Victoria
Free Speech Victoria is an organisation of concerned individuals committed to fighting censorship in all its forms. They can be emailed at info@fsvonline.org or via their website at: http://www.fsvonline.org/
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
Tel: (02) 6243 1111 (National Office), (02) 9230 9133 (NSW Office), or at www.accc.gov.au .
Human rights contacts in Australia
Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission administers federal legislation in the area of human rights, anti-discrimination, social justice and privacy. This includes public inquiries, complaint-handling, policy development and education and training. Level 8, Piccadilly Tower
133 Castlereagh Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000 GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Telephone: (02) 9284 9600
Complaints Infoline: 1300 656 419
Privacy Hotline: 1300 363 992
General enquiries and publications: 1300 369 711
TTY: 1800 620 241
Facsimile: (02) 9284 9611
complaintsinfo@humanrights.gov.au for information on lodging or responding to a complaint. Please note that this is an information service only. For further information about lodging complaints online click here .
Protecting Human Rights in Australia: A Community Education Kit
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has produced Protecting Human Rights in Australia a Community Education Kit . The Kit is comprised of a series of fact sheets which provide basic information about the human rights that affect everyone in Australia. http://piac.asn.au/publications/hrkit.html
Australian Human Rights Manual
http://www.dfat.gov.au/hr/hr_manual/index.html This web-site provides a good overall summary of international human rights law and how it applies to Australia. It explains in "plain English" many of the key concepts and relevant processes.
The Concise Guide to Human Rights on the Internet
http://www.derechos.org/human-rights/manual.htm
Activist legal information and support around Australia
Complete Activist
http://www.naclc.org.au/activist/index.html This site is designed for workers in community legal centres and other individuals and groups who are involved in community advocacy, or campaigning, on social justice and human rights issues in Australia.
UTS Community Law
http://www.law.uts.edu.au/~utsclc/ The UTS Community Law Centre is a centre of the University of Technology, Sydney and a community legal centre. The Centre provides free legal advice and carries out legal education, research and campaign work.
Australian Prisoners Union
65 Bellevue St, Glebe, NSW 2037, Australia
P.O. Box 386, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
apu@justiceaction.org.au
voice: 612-9660 9111 fax: 612-9660 9100
Anarchist Black Cross
Grassroots international network providing support to radical political prisoners.
abcmelb@yahoo.com.au PO box 300/brunswick east/vic/3057
International website: http://anarchistblackcross.org/
ABC Melbourne: http://www.geocities.com/abcmelb/
Justice Action
Justice Action is a community-based organisation comprising criminal justice and prison reform activists. Members are prisoners and ex-prisoners, lawyers, academics, victims of crime, and community members.
Justice Action provides a watchdog function overlooking the prison and criminal justice systems of New South Wales, uncovers and exposes police and penal abuse, misconduct and corruption and promotes reform and meaningful change. They work in coalition at the local, national and international level, including the NSW Criminal Justice Coalition, National Network of Community-Based Justice Activists and the International Conference on Penal Abolition.
Website: http://www.justiceaction.org.au 65 Bellevue Street
Glebe NSW Au 2037
Telephone: 02 9660 9111
justiceaction@justiceaction.org.au
Activist organisations
Below is a list of larger, or 'gateway' organisations and networks that can put you in touch with a wide range of smaller, local or specialised activist, social action or political organisations.
Listed in alphabetical order.
Friends Of the Earth (Melbourne)
Friends of the Earth is a community based activist organisation which works towards an ecologically sustainable and socially equitable society. 312 Smith Street, Collingwood, Melbourne. Postal Address: PO Box 222 Fitzroy, Victoria, 3065.
Telephone: (03) 9419 8700 Fax: (03) 9416 2081
http://www.melbourne.foe.org.au/
Green Left Weekly
Green Left Weekly is a campaigning paper: it aims to help strengthen the anti-racist, feminist, student, trade union, environment, gay and lesbian, civil liberties and anti-imperialist movements in Australia by linking the issues and activists, and by letting people know how they can join others in action for change.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/
Refugee Action Collective (Victoria)
Refugee Action Collective (Victoria) was established in late 2001 as an open grassroots collective, comprising a broad cross section of people to change Australian government policy on refugees.
PO Box 578,
Carlton South,
Vic 3053
Phone: (03) 9659 3505
refugeeaction@mail.com
http://www.rac-vic.org/index.html
The Wilderness Society (TWS)
The Wilderness Society is a national, community-based environmental advocacy organisation whose mission is to protect, promote and restore wilderness and natural processes across Australia for the survival and ongoing evolution of life on Earth.
Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane,
Melbourne, Vic, 3000
Phone: 03 9639 5455
http://www.wilderness.org.au/
Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby
The VGLRL is a lobby group which aims to achieve equality and social justice for lesbians and gay men. We do this by working with the media, undertaking and supporting research and lobbying politicians directly.
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~vglrl/ P.O. Box 2156,
Fitzroy 3065,
Victoria, Australia vglr_lobby@hotmail.com
Victorian Peace Network (VPN)
The Victorian Peace Network is a large and well-organised network of affiliates taking action against the recent build-up, war and occupation of Iraq and campaigns on other related issues of militarism, weapons of mass destructiuon and conflict in the Middle East.
Suite 2,
Victorian Trades Hall Council,
54 Victoria Street,
Carlton South Vic 3053.
Phone +61 3 9659 3582
info@vicpeace.org
http://www.vicpeace.org/
Victorian Trades Hall Council
The major role of the VTHC is the co-ordination of union activities and campaigns. When a union requires assistance and support for an issue which has broad consequences for more than one union, the VTHC can become involved in a co-ordinating role. It also provides assistance to its affiliated unions with research, negotiations and advocacy. The VTHC is also the central State organisation for communicating with the public about trade union issues. It is responsible for implementing ACTU policy within Victoria and represents unionists in lobbying State Parliament for social and industrial reforms. It is the body which most people contact if they have any query about trade unions. Ground Floor, Old Building, Trades Hall, Cnr. Victoria & Lygon Streets, Carlton South, 3053. Postal address: PO Box 93 Trades Hall, 54 Victoria Street, Carlton South 3053
Telephone: (03) 9662 3511 Fax: (03) 9663 2127 Email: info@vthc.org.au
http://www.vthc.org.au/
Activist training resources
Pt'chang Nonviolent Community Safety Group
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ptchang/ Pt'chang is an all-volunteer, not for profit community group dedicated to Community Safety. Our activities include: Providing training, resources and support to other groups and to individuals;
Telephone: (03) 9415 6642
Postal Address: PO Box 2172 Fitzroy, Victoria 3065
email: ptchang@office.minihub.org
Organising in the Face of Increased Repression http://www.starhawk.org/activism/activism-writings/organising.html
How to Use the Internet for Organising
http://www.nonviolence.org/support/
The Citizens Handbook: A grassroots organising guide
http://www.vcn.bc.ca/citizens-handbook/
Training for Change
http://www.trainingforchange.org
Check out Starhawk's Activist site with lots of materials for creating your own workshop.
http://www.starhawk.org
Nonviolent Direct Action Training Agenda
Article Source: www.starhawk.org
Activist legal resources online
Environmental Defenders Office (EDO)
The EDO produces a range of plain English Fact Sheets to explain different aspects of New South Wales and Commonwealth laws which affect the environment and environmental campaigning. You can browse the Fact Sheets by alphabetical order or search our website for information you need. http://www.edo.org.au/edonsw/site/factsheets
Defend the Defenders Kit
The Environment Defenders Office Victoria has developed the Defend the Defenders' resource kit for activists who are harassed because of their campaign activities. The resource materials may assist you and your group in understanding, preventing or responding to harassment. The first seven files are public files that can be loaded onto websites. http://www.edo.org.au/edovic/publications.html#Defend
Responding to legal threats
Fact sheet: Defamation and Safe Speech. For a useful set of guides and factsheets regarding defamation and legal threats go to the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) website at: http://www.edo.org.au/edonsw/site/factsh/factsheet32# ABC All-Media Law Handbook : for Journalists, Presenters, Program Makers, Authors, Editors and Publishers (Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Safe Speech and Managing the Media , B. Donald, paper delivered to EDO Conference "Defending the Defenders", October 1998. How to Face Legal Threats: A Resource Kit for Activists is a very clear and useful 12-page guide and can be found at Environment Defenders Office Victoria . Slapping on the Writs: Defamation, Developers and Community Activism is a highly recommended 95-page book by Melbourne Senior Counsel, Brian Walters. Published by University of NSW Press in 2003. Be Careful Not Silent: A Bush Lawyer's Guide to Avoiding and Surviving Defamation Claims A Guide for Community Political Activists by Dr Greg Ogle is a useful guide based on the experiences of activists in South Australia who received legal threats during the Hindmarsh Island Bridge Campaign.
Suppression of Dissent website can be found at: http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/ This site contains an article on Defamation and Free Speech at : http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/documents/defamation.html
Kumarangk Legal Defence Fund website documents the large number of defamation suits brought by Tom and Wendy Chapman in relation to the Hindmarsh Island bridge in South Australia, including threat of a defamation action over the website itself.
Resources for Prisoner support
Anarchist Black Cross
Grassroots international network providing support to radical political prisoners.
http://anarchistblackcross.org/
Australian legal resources and directories
Australian Legal Information Institute (AUSTLII)
Commonwealth Attorney-General Department's SCALE Plus
FindLaw Australia
Foundation Law (sponsored by NSW Law Foundation)
LawRunner Australia
Legal Resources and Links (Law Society of NSW)
National Library of Australia - Australian Law on the Internet
UniServe Law
Victoria
Parliament of Victoria
Victorian Government
Supreme Court of Victoria (including unreported judgments)
Magistrates Court of Victoria
County Court of Victoria (including judgments)
Victorian Statute Book
Victorian Acts and Statutory Rules
Victorian Consolidated Acts
Victorian Hansard
Supreme Court of Victoria Decisions
Victorian Administrative Appeals Tribunal Decisions
Department of Justice
Australian lawyers and law associations
National Association of Community Legal Centres
Directory of Australian Lawyer Associations Environment Planning and Law Association (EPLA)
Law Council of Australia
Jurist Australia
Law Society of the Australian Capital Territory
Law Society of New South Wales
New South Wales Law Foundation
Victoria Law Foundation
Law Society of Western Australia
The Aussie Pages
Australian law reform bodies
Council of Australian and New Zealand Law Reform Agencies
Australian Law Reform Commission
Victorian Law Reform Committee
Australian law journals on-line
The Australian Law Journal
High Court Review
International activist legal support contacts
Political Research Associates (PRA)
This is an independent, non-profit research centre that studies antidemocratic, authoritarian, and other oppressive movements, institutions, and trends. PRA is based on progressive values, and is committed to advancing an open, democratic, and pluralistic society. PRA provides accurate, reliable research and analysis to activists, journalists, educators, policy makers, and the public at large.
PRA is an essential resource for activists, organisers, journalists, community groups, educatorsanyone needing accurate, up-to-date information on the political Right.
http://www.publiceye.org/index.html
Just Cause Law Collective Mobile Legal Support Team Handbooks
http://www.lawcollective.org This Oakland California organisation provided comprehensive and detailed plain language community legal information with a particular focus on information for marginalised and racially targeted communities. It also contained an useful Mobile Legal Team Handbook and activist specific legal information and legal Observer guides.
Freedom Rising Affinity Group
Freedom Rising is a grassroots organising network in the US that helps build grassroots movements, organisations and campaigns, organises non-violent direct actions, outreach, marches and demonstrations, education, street theatre and pageants, media, fundraising, public events and celebrations. Their website contains useful downloadable legal information for activists which is mainly adapted from Midnight Special Law Collective and National Lawyers Guild materials.
http://www.freedomrising.org/article.php?id=9
Global Democracy Ottawa
http://www.gdo.ca/legal.html is a part of the Canadian global justice movement and has a Legal Crib sheet, police misconduct forms and information by the Quebec Legal Support Collective. The Legal Support Collective is not directly affiliated with Global Democracy Ottawa(GDO). It was founded during the N17, 2001 Demonstrations against the World Bank, IMF and G-20 and is continuing to offer ongoing support to the Ottawa activist community.
SALSA Social Activists Legal Students Association
The purpose of the SALSA is to:
Advance the view that the law can be used as a tool, by activists, to address issues of social justice, inequality, poverty and environmental protection.
Research legal issues related to activism and offer this information as a resource to activists and members of the community.
Provide a forum in which student activists interested in using the law in this manner can discuss issues related to legal activism and can meet and interact with other student activists and with people actively using the law as an activist tool.
Promote ideals of equality, justice, democracy and environmentalism at Weldon via guest speakers, seminars, workshops, etc.
Offer direction and access to necessary resources for activists who need legal assistance.
This simple and low-grade site is a great example of a specifically activist Legal Support Team and contains a range of downloadable PDF guides, articles and links with other legal sites.
http://www.geocities.com/activistlaw/
Urban75
urban75 magazine is a huge UK ezine site featuring bulletin boards, photos, protest, rave, drugs & more . Has a huge activist legal rights section at http://www.urban75.com/Action/index2.html which covers everything from legal rights for ravers, road protestors, football fans and activists. It has bust cards, links to the London based Legal Defence and Monitoring Group and guides on activist safety. Police complaints and legal issues.
The Legal Defence and Monitoring Group
The Legal Defence and Monitoring Group describe themselves as Volunteers for the Defence of Civil Protest and the Right of Assembly' http://www2.phreak.co.uk/ldmg/index.php The original idea behind the Legal Defence And Monitoring Group was to form legal back up on demonstrations in and around London (Britain). Working in the same way as the Trafalgar Square Defendants Campaign (TSDC) during the Poll Tax demos, the main LDMG roles are:
- To monitor police behaviour on demonstrations & pickets.
- To give unconditional support to anyone arrested or injured.
- To provide sympathetic solicitors to those people arrested who want one.
- To assist anybody assaulted by the police or wrongly arrested to sue the police.
- To monitor court cases and provide support to those held on remand.
The site is covers information and resources for legal teams and legal observers. Their legal rights sections covers the European Convention on Human Rights and practical arrest rights.
NYC People's Law Collective (New York)
Email: nycplc at tao.ca Website: www.tao.ca/~nycplc
R2K Legal Collective (Philadelphia)
The R2K Legal Collective is comprised of: A) Activists
B) working groups composed of activists (such as Outreach, Fundraising, and Media)
C) the Legal Strategy Group (a closed group of attorneys, defendants, and supporters that has access to some confidential information but is not authorized to make decisions for the entire collective without approval)
D) the Legal Team (criminal and civil lawyers who have volunteered or are paid to work on these cases, including public defenders, private attorneys, NY private attorneys, and national criminal law experts) Tel: +1 (215) 925-6791 Email: info at r2klegal.org Web: www.r2klegal.org
Midnight Special Law Collective (California)
The Midnight Special Law Collectiveis an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to providing legal trainings and accessible, relevant, democratic and accountable legal support to a wide range of activists participating in the struggle for social change. The group also fosters the formation of community-based legal teams and law collectives nationally to achieve these goals on a larger scale by helping activists network with lawyers and by sharing knowledge and practical experience. Tel: (510) 834-1883 Email: info at midnightspecial.net Web: www.midnightspecial.net
Citizens Opposed to Police Brutality (Montreal)
Tel: (514) 859-9065 Email: cobp at tao.ca Web: www.tao.ca/~cobp
Common Front Legal (Toronto)
Tel: (416) 925-6939
Email: commonfront-legal at tao.ca
Resources for activists
Medical aid for activists
Excellent medical resources.
http://www.blackcrosscollective.org
Raising a real Ruckus, Interview with John Sellers, Director Ruckus Society
Article Source: Nina Wu, San Francisco Examiner
Participating With Safety: A series of briefings on information security and online safety for civil society organisations
http://secdocs.net/manual/lp-sec/
The Association for Progressive Communications has developed a series of briefings to help those working online improve the security of their computer and online communications. The briefings were developed as part of a project aimed at improving the online security of computer users such as journalists and human rights workers. But the content of the briefings is relevant for all those working online.
The series of seven briefings cover the following areas:
1. Introducing Information Security - outlines what information security is, and the different means that exist to protect your information from damage or loss
2. Backing-up Information - how to organise your information to keep regular copies, how to make back-up copies, and how to store them securely
3. Passwords and Access Controls - this outlines the purpose of access controls, such as passwords or encryption, and how to use them
4. Using Encryption and Digital Signatures -
describes how data encryption and digital signatures work, and how they can be used to protect your information from unwanted intrusion
5. Computer Viruses - outlines what computer viruses are, and how to minimise the risks from the damage they may cause
6. Using the Internet Securely -
describes how the Internet can be used as a means of surveillance, by the state and corporations, and how these surveillance measures can by avoided
7. Living Under Surveillance -
outlines the scope of private and state surveillance, and how simple measures can reduce (but never eliminate) the potential impacts of surveillanc
Dealing with Political Surveillance
A useful guide by Linda Lotz of the American Friends Service Committee. http://www.publiceye.org/liberty/Whatbugs.html
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